CHOM’s Tootall looks forward to being back on the air, and health issues haven’t stopped him from keeping up with the latest music

This story was published Dec. 12, 2013.

He does have a proper name, but Robert Wagenaar is not the stuff of roll-off-your-tongue legendary radio handles. Tootall may not be that classic DJ name either, but it has stuck for 36 years, and the CHOM broadcaster has become synonymous with rock ‘n’ roll for generations of Montreal radio listeners.

Frankly, Tootall, who would not have been out of place in the NBA in his younger days, has only himself to blame for the name. When asked – and he is always asked – how tall he is, he will invariably reply “Too tall.” So he took out the space between the two words and a moniker was born.

Tootall is a walking rock ‘n’ roll encyclopedia, but he is also among the keenest supporters of local talent. He not only talks up local talent, but he also spins their discs on his show – too often a rarity in this town.

But as his fans are abundantly aware, Tootall hasn’t been talking or spinning discs on his midday show since June. Rumours have abounded about his health.

“I’m not 100 per cent yet,” he says, when reached at his home. “But I’m getting there, and I hope to return early in the new year.”

He began to feel weak, which quickly progressed to feeling like fainting. He ended up going to hospital emergency wards twice, but doctors couldn’t figure out what was ailing him.

“They gave me every test known to mankind,” he recalls. “It was like an alien probe. Then they said: ‘Your heart is a little slow.’ So they gave me a pacemaker. But that didn’t solve the problem.”

Doctors spotted other issues, like a benign tumour on his bladder. He was operated on successfully, but that didn’t turn out to be the problem, either.

“When I went back for something else, they spotted a clot in my lungs in a scan. Something kept on coming up all the time. I’ve improved considerably, but it’s still not good enough to get back to work again. Some days, I wake up and feel ready to go back to work again. Then, other days, I feel a little off.

“The good news is that I’m not getting any worse and that the doctors have told me whatever it is I have is not life-threatening – although they still say they don’t know what it is.”

Tootall is as evasive about his age as he is about his height. Born in Amsterdam and raised in Regina, he does allow that he has been in radio since 1969. It wasn’t long after he landed at CHOM that he started his Made in Canada show, devoted to this country’s indie bands. He was also at the helm of CHOM’s L’Esprit competition, which provided local groups with cash and prizes, including valuable recording time.

Many have credited Tootall’s support in part for the city becoming as renowned as it has on the indiemusic front. Yet he is also credited for helping to keep classic rock alive, thanks to his Electric Brunch and Electric Lunch Hour segments over the years.

“I may be off the air, but I’m still following music as closely as I ever have,” he says. “(CHOM’s) philosophy has always been to get the new stuff on first. And we’re still there. We have this hybrid formula that attracts both younger and older listeners, and I don’t think anybody else has it.

“I like to think that I’m not stuck in any time zone. I appreciate it all – the old and new. It’s all rock ‘n’ roll, and I love it.”

If Tootall’s latter declaration bears any similarity to some Rolling Stones lyrics, it is not accidental. Not to detract from his love for Mick and Keef, but it’s a far younger recording artist who has blown Tootall away of late: 19-year-old British singer-songwriter Jake Bugg.

“His first hit was so Dylan-esque, but then listening to the rest of the album, I was going: ‘Forget the whole Dylan thing. This is old skiffle stuff. This is what the Quarrymen, who came before the Beatles, sounded like. This is what the Everly Brothers sounded like.’ I hear Simon & Garfunkel and the late Nick Drake in there too.

“It’s very refreshing. I like (Bugg’s) second album too, but not as much as the first. What’s great about music, though, is that there is always something new and exciting out there.”

Tootall is also high on Montreal band Half Moon Run, and notes that he is getting more into Arcade Fire’s Reflektor. “I saw some of the initial reaction to it, labelling it ‘dance music and blah, blah, blah,’ but I like it. That is like the first reaction that I got when I listened to Talking Heads in the late ’70s. And it’s also got that Bowie-esque thing going.”

What he doesn’t like is much of the current crop of pop that relies heavily on Auto-Tune. “That really drives me nuts. There’s no variety. That whole thing started with that Cher song, Believe. That was a joke. I spoke to the song’s producer. He told me he was just fooling around. I told him: ‘Look at what you gave the world – thanks a lot.’ ” He may be off the air, but the fire is still there.

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